‘The Fault in our Stars’ by John Green

There are some Young Adult genre books written for teens which appeal to adults as well, such as Hunger Games and The Book Thief. ‘The Fault in our Stars’ is beautifully written and touched me deeply. Written with a great deal of humour and panache, Green takes a difficult subject and makes it not only easy to read, but unforgettable and wise. Although it is an edgy love story about two teenagers with terminal cancer, it is also honest and real about how to live life in any circumstances, in a way that only a book about death can be.

Augustus and Hazel meet at a Cancer Kid Support Group. Some members of the group are survivors and some are dying of cancer…but wait, let me rephrase that….living with cancer. That is an important distinction in this book. It’s about living because the reality is that we are all going to die. The focus is on living as normal a life as possible in the meantime, something which is so important to those struggling with illness.

John Green has written two other books for young adults and I am looking forward to enjoying his writing again. I’m also curious to test-drive his books on the teenage reading group that I lead, to see if young adults are as impressed with his writing as adults are!